Hand-brake



1. F. OCONNUR.

HAND BRAKE.

APPLICATION FILED IIIAII` I, I9I9.

Patented Feb.22,1921.

W1 TNESSES.-

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE.,

JonN r. ocoNNoR, oF CHICAGO, ILLINoIs, AssIGNon To WILLIAM H. MINER, orVcHAzY, NEW YORK.

.Application led March 1, 1919. Serial No.1279,942.

Y To all whom it may concern:

periencedin applying the hand brakes while the carsare being switched inthe freight yards. As is well known, the cars are shunted on the variousspur tracks and it is the brakemans duty to operate the hand brakes inVsuch manner as to vproperly spot the car, or in other words, bring it torest at the proper point. With the ordinary style of hand brake, thebrakeman tightens the brake to Vwhat he believes to be the necessarydegree and Vit Yis often found that the brakes have been too rigidlyapplied thus causing the cars to be stopped prior to their reaching theintended pointor spot. The ordinary brake does not provide any means forreleasing gradually the brake so that the brakeman may ease off thebrake when he finds that the car is being brought to rest too rapidly.

The object of my invention is to provide in a simple device which may beusedA in conjunction with Lthe ordinary vertical staff types of handbrakes for freight carsV means whereby the brakeman vcan graduatetherelease of the brakes with a mi-nimum of effort. In'the drawing forminga part of this specification, Figure 1 is a art elevational view, partverticalsection, o a portion of an Y end wall of'a car and the verticalbrake staf showing my improvements in connection therewith; Fig. 2 is anend elevational view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1. In Fig. 2is also indicated the usual footcontrolled locking pawl employed withbrake staffs of the vertical type. Fig. 3 is a horizontal, sectionalview taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a hori-Speciication of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 22, 1921.

zontal, sectional View taken substantially on the line 4`4 of Fig. 1. Y

In said drawing, 10 denotes a steel end wall of a car, 11 a verticalbrake staff, 12 the usual platformfupon which the brakeman stands, 13arratchet wheel rigid with the stall" 11, and 14 a locking doglcoperable with the ratchet wheel 13 and adapted to be controlledvby thebrakemans foot in the usual and well known manner.

In carrying out my improvements, I preferably employ the usual handwheel 15 at the top of the brake staff for rotating the sta' 1n theordinary manner inasmuch as the brakemen are accustomed to this methodof operation., A short distanceibelowthe hand wheel and where itj may beattached to the wall of the car, I provide-a housing consisting of alower shelf 16 and an upper cap 17, both parts being riveted orotherwise suitably rigidly secured to the wall. The two elements 16 and17 provide a chamber 18 shown in Figs. 1 and 4. On the staff 11 withinthe chamber 18, I provide a cast wheel A loosely rotatably mounted onthe upper end of the round portion of the staff. Said wheel to coperatetwo teeth 20-20 of an escapement pawl lever 21 mounted on a pivot pin 22preferably formed integral with the member 16. Said lever 21 has ahandle23'adapting it for manual operation,and the opening 24 of the lever 21within which extends the pivot pin 22 is somewhat enlarged to permittilting of the lever 21 to the dotted position shown in Fig. 1 and forthe purpose hereinafter described. The lever 21 and ratchet teeth 19 actin the manner of an yordinary escapement ratchet mechanism, the teeth 20of the escapement4 lever being properly vspaced for this purpose aswillr be understood. On its upper face, the casting -A is provided withvratchet teeth indicated at 25. Coperable with the ratchet teeth 25 arecorresponding ratchet teeth 26 on the under face of a cast bushing 27vertically slidably mounted on the squared section 111 of the staff. Theweight of the cast sleeve 27 will be sufficient to normally hold it inengage- .fini

ment with the ratchet teeth 25 of the casting A so that, in effect, theratchet teeth 26 and 25 form a clutch. As evident from an inspection ofFig. 1, the members 16 and 17 forming the housing provide suitablebearings for the staff 11 and the casting 27, and the latter ispermitted` a vertical movement within the chamber 18 suilicient topermit the teeth 26 thereof to clear the teeth 25 of the casting A.

The operation is as follows: The brakeman applies the brake in the usualmanner, that is, by rotating vthe hand wheel ina clockwise direction asviewed in Figs. 3 and 4. During this movement, the' casting 27 can ridefreely over the casting Ainasmuch as the teeth 25 and 26 are so arrangedas to permit this. When` the brake has been applied suiliciently, thebrakeman will kick in the locking dog 14:v in the usual manner. ,Afterthis is done, if the brakeman perceives that it is necessary to releasethe brakes slightly, hev does so by kicking out the locking dog 14 andcontrolling the oscillation in a horizontal plane of the escapementlever 21.V 'By oscillating the lever 21 the staff 11 can be released ina counterclockwise direction one tooth 19 at atime and this isaccomplished because of the clutch engagement effected between theratchet teeth 25 Vand 26. If the brakeman desires to release the brakesentirely, he depresses the handle 23 of the escapement lever 21 to theposition shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, during which action the innerend of the lever 21 engages the under side of the castingl27 and liftsit to the dotted position showin iu Fig. 1 until it is out of engagementwith the ratchet teeth'25. When this has been done, it is evident'thatthe staff 11 is free to rotate in an unwinding direction.

' The arrangement which I have provided is not only relativelyVinexpensive but may be easily applied to vertical brake staffs of themost common form of hand brakes now employed on freight cars and givesthe brakeman greater control over the setting of the brakes than hasheretofore been possible. It will also be noted that during theapplication of the brakes, the brakeman is not'required to giveattention'to any more parts than he does with the present form of brakesand my improved escapement mechanism requires manipulation only durthegraduated 4release action. y claim: y

i 1. In a brake of the character described, kthe combination with an'element having means associated therewith for directly effectingrotation thereof to tighten a flexible connection, of a ratchet wheellooselyro-V tatably mounted on said element, apawl lever coperable withvsaid 'ratchet wheel; a second member non-rotatably mounted on Saidelement but adapted for movement lengthwise thereof, said member andratchet wheel having cooperating clutch-engaging faces, said lever beingmovable to an abnormal position to engage said member to shift thelatter lengthwise of said element and thereby disengage the clutch facesof the member and ratchetrwheel.'

2. Ina brake of the character described, the combination with an elementadapted to bepjrotated to effect the winding of a flexible connection;of a ratchet wheel loosel rotatably mounted with respect to sai elelment; an .escapement pawl lever pivotally mounted and coperable withsaid ratchet wheel, said pawl lever havingtwo spaced teeth arranged toalternately engage with teeth of the ratchet wheel; and clutch mechanisminterposed between said ratchet wheel and said rotatable element wherebysaid escapement pawl lever ma beeinployed to `control the rotation ovsaid ele- `ment in an unwinding direction, step kr by Ste .I v J j IiiIn a brake of the character described, the combination with a verticalbrake stai' and means for manually rotating 'the same, `of a ratchetwheel'loosely mounted on said staff, an escapement pawl lever coperablewith said ratchet wheel, aV second` member nonrotatably mounted on saidstaff but adapted for longitudinal movement thereon, said member andvratchet wheel having clutch operating means, said escapement leverbeing movable to an abnormal position and adapted to disengage saidclutch means.

4. In a brake of the character described, the combination with a brakestaff having means for manually rotating the same, of a castingv looselyrotatably mounted ron said staff, said casting being-.provided with pe"-ripheral teethand ratchet teeth on one of theA faces thereof, anescapement pawl lever cooperable with said peripheral teeth of thecasting, and a second casting non-rotatably mounted on the staff butadapted for longitudinal'movementthereom said casting having ratchetteeth coperable with theratchet `teeth on the face of the viirstmentioned casting, -said escapement lever being movable to a position todisengage the ratchet teeth `of said two castings.

5. In a brake ofthe characterzdescribed, i

the combination .with a verticali-brake staff having a hand wheel at thektop thereof for rotatingithe same, a 'housing through which the staffextends, said housing being adapted to be secured to an adjacent wall ofthe car, said staff having a-circularsection and 4a non-circular sectionwithin the housing, `a casting loosely mounted on the circular sectionof the staff and provided withrperipheral teeth 'and vface ratchetteeth, `a second casting longitudinally slidably but non- `rotatablymounted on the square sectionrofl the staif withm the housing andprovided with ratchet teeth oop'erable with the ratchet teeth of the rstnamed casting, andl an escapement pawl lever'ooperable with theperipheral teeth of the irst nmed Casting, said paWl lever being adaptedfor pvotal movement in atV horizontal plane and also in a verticalplane, movement of the es'eapement, lever n a vertical plane beingadapted to effect' disengagement of the ratchet teeth of said twocastings. f "In Witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereuntosubscribed my name this 21st day of Feb. 1919.

t JOHN F. OCONNOR.

